"Santa Luzia the daylight shines and made me see life with much more colour": dreams and perspectives of pagodeira youth in the nineties

Abstract

This article analizes the testemonies of two romantic pagode lovers: Fernanda and Iranildo, lower class people who lived intensely the pagodeira scene from the 90's. The stories shared here are part of my master's research which is in progress. The metodology used to tell Feranda and Iranildo memories it's oral and decolonial history. Their testemonies reveal a periphery that "grew up in empty spaces" of the city, facing the absence of basic infrastructure and state's violence. Through theses stories, the article seeks to highlight the relevance of the romantic pagode as a cultural movement of resistance and belonging, fundamental for the affirmation of identities and the strengthening of bonds, echoing the struggle and the dream of a generation that resisted, created and transformed itself though music.